The Adolphe Sax International Competition is for advanced saxophonists of any nationality who may not be aged more than 30 years, i.e. they must have been born after 9 November 1988. Its musical development is in the hands of a Musical Committee, which is made up of saxophone teachers from Belgium’s higher conservatories.

The Competition is preceded by a selection process based on videos. A total of 302 candidates submitted videos to be viewed by an international jury (Alain Crepin, Sergey Kolesov, Koen Maas, Masahiro Maeda and Timothy McAllister). They were required to perform the Concerto pour Saxophone – II. Final – Giration by Henri Tomasi and the 2nd Movement of Konsert för Saxofon by Lars Erik Larsson. The jury had to decide whether each candidate was of the level required to take part in the public part of the competition, by awarding a "yes", a "no", or a "maybe". At the end of the preselection process, 94 candidates were accepted.

The public rounds are as follows:- a first round, in which candidates play for a maximum of 20 minutes;- a semi-final, in which candidates play for a maximum of 40 minutes, to which the 18 highest-ranking candidates from the first round are admitted; - a final, in which candidates play for a maximum of 40 minutes, to which the 6 highest-ranking candidates from the semi-final are admitted.A saxophone of any kind may be played in the works chosen by candidates, but the compulsory works must be played on an alto saxophone. In the first round and the semi-final, candidates are accompanied on the piano; in the final they are accompanied by an orchestra.Since it was first launched, the Competition has been a great success, both with specialists and with a broad public: it attracted 104 candidates from 21 countries in 1994, 114 candidates from 26 countries in 1998, 134 candidates from 23 countries in 2002, 114 candidates from 25 countries in 2006, 170 candidates from 33 countries in 2010 and 109 candidates from 26 countries in 2014. In this 7th Edition, 94 candidates are taking part, from 19 countries.The compulsory works for the finals of previous competitions, commissioned by the International Adolphe Sax Association, were: Caprices de Saxicare by Henri Pousseur (1994), Ostinati by Frédéric Devreese (1998), Pathetic Story by Frederic van Rossum (2002), Kotekan by Piet Swerts (2006), Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone by André Waignein (2010) and Images by Jan Van der Roost (2014).For the 2019 edition, the composition of the compulsory work, Noema, was entrusted to Claude Ledoux.For the first round and the semi-final the Competition management places official accompanists at the disposal of those candidates who wish to avail of them: Reinaert Albrecht, Geert Callaert, Flavien Casaccio, Paul Hermsen, Tomoko Honda and Anastasia Kozhushko.The finalists will perform with The Chamber Orchestra of Belgium CASCO Phil, conducted by David Reiland.The Jury, chaired by Alain Crepin, is made up of musical personalities who represent different schools around the world:Koen Maas, Vice-President (Belgique), David Alonso Serena (Spain), Roberto Benitez Alonso (Mexico), John Harle (United Kingdom), Sergey Kolesov (Russia), Shyen Lee (Taïwan), Masahiro Maeda (Japan), Timothy McAllister (United States), Debra Richtmeyer (United States) and Christian Wirth (France). For the semi-final they will be joined by Vykintas Baltakas (Lituania), Eddy Vanoosthuyse (Belgium) and for the final by Claude Ledoux (Belgium) (p. 96).The jury will be assisted by a Secretariat-General made up of Simon Diricq. The Arbitration Committee is chaired by the Honorary Alternate Judge of Dinant, Guy de Reytere, and is made up of Peter Cverle, Pieter Pellens and Romain Zante. A Mediator, Maitre Gyllen Kiabu, will ensure that the Competition runs smoothly in legal terms.#dinantsax #adolphesax #competition